


Surprise, Surprise

by fbi_woman



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 16:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14115999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fbi_woman/pseuds/fbi_woman
Summary: Just when you think everything is going perfectly, life has a way of throwing you a wicked curve ball… or two. Established Abby/Buck.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that came to me when I read the synopsis for the season finale. That being said, this is NOT meant to be set during the finale – it’s just some undefined point in the future. 
> 
> Side Note: I need more 911 friends lol and would love some people to bounce ideas off of. Feel free to add me on twitter (same username).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own 9-1-1 or any of its characters or anything associated with it, not affiliated with Fox, yadda yadda yadda. I’m a nobody with nothing.

* * *

 

Abby stared blankly at the test in her hand. How did this happen? Scratch that, obviously she knew exactly how it happened. The better question was why she had allowed it to happen. She wasn’t a teenager for Christ’s sake; she was a responsible adult… though evidently not as responsible as she could have been, because here she was, with two positive Clearblue tests and a mental list of several encounters that could be the culprit. She wished she could say she just hadn’t considered it a likely possibility because of her age, but she knew better. If she was being honest with herself, she just plain hadn’t thought about it at all, on more than one occasion. This was one of those times where she really wished her mom was here. She needed a good pep talk right about now, and definitely would have liked some advice about how on earth she’s supposed to tell Buck. Not that her mom would have been particularly sympathetic, but she would have been a great sounding board.

Now she was fighting back tears. This wasn’t how she had expected to feel when she had imagined this moment: in her mind, she had always pictured being happy and excited, but in reality, she was stunned and scared. Of course, the last time she had pictured this, she had been many years younger and in the imaginary scenario, she was also happily married and _planning_ to have a child. None of that was true now. She was certainly happy with Buck and she definitely loved him, but it was still a relatively new relationship; they hadn’t officially been together for even a year yet. She didn’t know if he even wanted kids at all, let alone this soon. So far, he had remarkably taken everything in stride, so maybe he would handle this well too. That’s what she was telling herself, anyways. She sighed. Can’t her life ever be smooth sailing for just a little while?

 

* * *

 

Buck had just finished his shift and was looking forward to heading home. Though he and Abby had been living together for almost 2 months now, the novelty hadn’t worn off yet. Every time he walked in the door and saw her, he couldn’t help but smile. It was _so_ much better than calling her when he got home. He had never really envisioned himself being particularly domestic, but everything changed when he met Abby. _He_ changed, for the better. For the first time in his life, he felt 100% content. He wasn’t looking or longing for anything. It sounded corny, but she made him feel whole, and he considered himself lucky to have found such an amazing woman. He understood now what people mean, when they say ‘when you find the one, you’ll just know’.

 Tonight they were going to check out a new restaurant that had opened not far from their building. In fact, he was going to make them late if he didn’t hurry. He was almost to his car when he heard a voice behind him.

“Buck?”

He turned around to find an attractive, young brunette with an infant on her hip.

“Hey!”

She sounded excited to see him, but he wasn’t sure why. “Uh, hi?”

Her face fell. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

He scoured his mind, but came up empty. “No, sorry, should I?”

“I guess not,” she conceded, “we were pretty drunk.”

_Great_.

“I’m Brittany, I was friends with Dave’s girlfriend, Lindsay. I was at his birthday party last year.”

Drunk friend of the ex-roommate’s ex-girlfriend at a party, yeah, he totally remembered that… not.

“Oh, well, it’s nice to see you again.”

He turned and took the last few steps to his car, but she was following him. This was getting weird.

“Sorry, can I help you with something?” he asked, spinning back around to face her.

She looked uncomfortable now. “Look, Buck, I don’t really know how to tell you this. I was really hoping you would remember me, it would have made this a lot easier.”

He wasn’t following. “Tell me what?”

“Well, we kind of… you know… hooked up at Dave’s party, and then it wasn’t too long after that I found out I was pregnant with Jade, and, well… she’s yours.”

For a second, he was sure his heart had actually stopped. This was bad. So, _so_ bad. And of course, it just had to happen just when all the pieces of his life had finally come together.

“Are… are you sure?”

“Yeah. I know it’s a lot to take in. And I’m not here because I want something from you, we’re doing fine on our own, I just felt really guilty keeping it from you. You deserve a chance to know your daughter… if you want to, that is. If you don’t, that’s okay too.”

He was actually speechless. Was this seriously happening right now?

“Here,” she pressed a slip of paper in his hand, “that’s my number. Take your time, think about it, and if you decide you want to be involved, give me a call.”

He stared at the piece of paper for several moments after she left. What the hell was he going to do? And how was he supposed to tell Abby? All he knew was he better figure it out quickly, because he wasn’t sure how long he could keep it in once he saw her. He was terrible at hiding things from her – mostly because he didn’t like doing it, even when it was a good surprise. And he highly doubted she would consider this a good one.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Abby had known something was up with Buck from the minute he came home. He was trying to act normal, but he seemed nervous. She hadn’t mentioned it though, figuring he would tell her when he was ready. He seemed really preoccupied all throughout dinner but frankly, that had suited her just fine. Her mind was elsewhere as well, so she was actually relieved that he wasn’t focused on her. In truth, it hadn’t been much of a date. Just the typical ‘how was your day’ type small talk, and a lot of companionable silence. Now they were driving home, and the silence was starting to get to her. Her thoughts were racing, bouncing back and forth between worrying about what was bothering him and worrying about what she had to tell him. Someone had better say something soon, or she was going to crack.

She reached that point a few minutes after they walked through the front door. She desperately wanted to get the weight off her shoulders, but she knew he wasn’t in the right frame of mind right now. Her secret would have to wait.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Buck looked up, surprised. “What?”

“You were really quiet at dinner, I know something’s bothering you.”

He sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just kind of… hard to talk about.”

“You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know… it’s just… okay. This is going to sound a little crazy, because it is. So, when I was leaving work, this girl came up to me, said she knew me through one of my roommates and that we hooked up once at a party at my place, which I don’t remember. And she’s holding this baby, and…” his voice trailed off.

Abby’s heart sank. Anyone could see where this story was going, and it was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. The timing couldn’t possibly be any worse. 

“She says it’s mine.”

She knew it was coming, but it was still hard to swallow. For the second time today, she was fighting back tears and trying to stay calm.

“Is she sure?” she asked quietly.

“I asked, and she said yes.”

A tense quiet descended on the room. She honestly didn’t know what to say. What exactly was an appropriate response to that? After a few minutes, she looked up to see Buck watching her anxiously.

And so, she said the only thing she could think of: “wow.”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what do. She said it was up to me and gave me her number. It’s like, on the one hand, I don’t want to leave my kid without a father, but on the other hand, I really don’t even know this girl and I don’t know if I’m ready to be a father.”

Cue the next thing she absolutely hadn’t wanted to hear tonight. Her news was officially off the table until further notice; the last thing he needed right now was _another_ surprise child.

“What do you think I should do?”

She thought for a minute. “Well… I would probably sit down with her and try to get a bit more information before I made a decision. First, how old is the baby? Does that match up with when you were together? Second, if the dates do seem plausible, I would ask for a paternity test: you can never be too careful. Tell her it’s nothing personal, you just want confirmation. I would want to know why she didn’t me sooner. You should probably also ask what kind of custody arrangement she would be open to if you did want to be involved. Find out those kinds of things, and then once you have all the pieces, you can make an informed decision.”

He smiled at her. “You always know exactly what to say.”

_Or NOT say_ , she thought wryly.

“Would you… want to come with me?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I should. Not because I don’t want to, but because I think she would probably feel more comfortable discussing it without me there.”

“You’re right. If this is something I want to do though, are you okay with that?”

“Of course, I’ll support you no matter what you decide.”

As gutted as she felt about the whole thing, saying no wasn’t an option in her mind. She could never do that to him. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared to death about what he would choose to do. As she saw it, it was kind of a no-win situation for her: either he says he doesn’t want to be a parent yet and she still has to tell him that she’s pregnant, or he says he does, which is great, but now there’s an attractive, younger woman in the picture who also has his child. And though she knew it might very well be unjustified, she felt threatened by that possibility. What if, when he got to know this girl more, he developed feelings for her? Or what if he decided he wanted more kids? She probably couldn’t give him that, but this other girl could. 

She was startled out of her thoughts when he put an arm around her and pulled her close, kissing her temple. “I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I love you too.”

He sighed heavily, “guess I should call Brittany before it gets too late.”

_Brittany._ “Good idea. I’m really tired, I’m going to go get changed.”

“Pick out a movie after?”

“Sure. Any preference?”

“Nope! Surprise me.”

_HA_ , _if only he knew._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to take a wild guess and say no one really wants to read through a bunch of scenes between Buck and Brittany, and I don’t really want to write them lol, so I’m not going to. We’re just going to gloss over it, touch on the important parts, and keep on rolling. Next chapter is just the conclusion, so it’ll be a bit on the short side.

* * *

 

It was now Saturday – 5 days since the Brittany bombshell, and 2 days since the OBGYN appointment she hadn’t told Buck about – and Abby was now at home on her couch, feeling like hell. Buck, on the other hand, was at the zoo with Brittany and Jade. She was supposed to go with them, to meet Brittany and the baby, but she had been so nauseous when she woke up that she couldn’t even fathom a whole day of walking around in the heat. So instead, she said something about a flu going around, and sent Buck on his way. To his credit, he had offered to cancel and stay home with her, but she kind of wanted to be alone. Not only did she feel like crap, but she was also in a sour mood. She wanted to blame it on hormones, but it wasn’t that. Some of it was that she hated keeping secrets from Buck. That just wasn’t them. The majority of the problem, however, was Brittany. She didn’t trust her, which was probably unfair since she didn’t know her at all, but something didn’t feel right about this whole baby thing.

Jade was 4 months old, which Buck said made sense, and Brittany had said she was on board with doing the paternity test, but that was where the green light stopped for Abby. Even though she _said_ they could do it, it hadn’t actually happened yet. At least, she didn’t think it had. Buck had gotten the DNA kit and done his swab later that day, and he had helped do Jade’s, but typical turnaround time for a private lab was 1-2 days. They should have had the results by now. She had casually asked Buck about it yesterday, but he hadn’t seemed concerned, so she didn’t push the issue. As the hours ticked by, however, she was starting to wish she had. She actually thought about calling the lab to ask when they thought the results would be in, as a sort of backwards way of verifying that the test had in fact been submitted, but that sounded dangerously close to psycho girlfriend territory.

On top of that, Abby didn’t buy the girl’s story about why she hadn’t told Buck about the baby sooner. According to Brittany, she hadn’t been with anyone else so she had always known that Buck was the father, but she claimed that she had missed a couple days of her birth control pills and so she didn’t want to ‘burden’ him when it was her mistake. She said she went to live with her parents in another county until the baby was born, and had only just recently moved back to the area when she got a new job. Apparently that was when she had decided she could no longer handle the guilt of keeping her daughter a secret from the father. It sounded fishy when she first heard it, so she had done a bit of snooping. Since social media posts are created by that person themselves, she decided it was fair game and thus _not_ under the psycho girlfriend heading. For someone who had moved 2 counties away while she was pregnant, she was sure tagged in a lot of pictures and locations in this area during that time. It was far from proof of anything, but she felt slightly vindicated nonetheless.

The worst part of all, though, was that Buck was head over heels for little Jade. He had met up with her and Brittany every day this week, and he had pictures and videos of Jade on his phone. That _should_ make her happy, because Buck is great with kids and maybe he was warming up to the idea of having one of his own. But she wasn’t happy. She couldn’t be, because the doubt kept gnawing at the back of her mind and leaving her with this sinking feeling that he would get hurt. And she couldn’t stomach the thought of someone taking advantage of Buck’s sweet and caring nature. Every day he was getting more invested in that little girl, and the longer it went on, the more devastated he would be if her hunch was right. That being said, she was afraid it would push him away if she was too negative or insistent about it. Rock, meet hard place.

* * *

 

She must have drifted off to sleep eventually, because the sound of the front door woke her up. Physically she felt much better, but emotionally? Not so much. She was just frustrated: frustrated with keeping so much to herself, and frustrated with the answers she was (or wasn’t) getting. 

Buck came to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her. “Hey, you feeling any better?”

“A little bit, yeah.” She was actually fine now but she might need to play the flu card again tomorrow, so she didn’t want to seem _too_ much better. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Yeah, it was good. Would have been better if you were there. It’s really different being there with a kid though,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’ll bet.

“Jade really seemed to like the elephants and the penguins but she did _not_ like the polar bears.”

“Smart girl,” Abby replied, “elephants and penguins won’t eat you.”

Buck laughed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right… I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

She forced a smile, because he just looked so happy and she was really trying to be supportive despite her doubts. “Hopefully next time. I’m sorry I had to sit out today.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault you got sick.”

_Well… that was somewhat debatable_ , she supposed.

“So did anything else happen today?”

He looked a little puzzled. “I mean, we took some pictures and got ice cream and stuff.”

“Oh,” she tried not to sound disappointed but was pretty sure she failed.

“What else would have happened?" 

“I don’t know… I just thought maybe the lab would have called today.” _Real subtle there, Abby_.

“Why are you so hung up on that?”

“Why aren’t you?” She hadn’t meant to be snippy, but it definitely came out that way.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

_Shit_. She was quickly losing control of the conversation and everything she had been feeling was starting to bubble up. “Look, just forget I mentioned it, okay? I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business.”

His expression suddenly changed. He looked…. hurt. Her heart started racing. What had she done wrong now?

“It’s none of your business? I thought we were in this together. You said you were okay with it, no matter what.”

“I was! I am! I mean… I just don’t want you to get hurt.” There. She said it.

“What makes you think I’m going to get hurt? This is my daughter we’re talking about.”

She didn’t know if it was the hormones or what, but she snapped without warning.

“Is it, Buck? How are you so damn sure without that test?”

“Why would she lie about it?”

She gaped at him. “Are you kidding me? There are _tons_ of reasons someone might lie about that! You seriously don’t think anything about her story sounded suspicious? And the testing kit said 1-2 days: you did the swabs on Tuesday, and it’s Saturday. That’s 4 days. You don’t think that’s odd?”

“I thought her story sounded fine. I mean, I don’t know what I would do in her position, so how can I say what she should or shouldn’t have done? And you know labs get backed up sometimes.”

“Call the lab.”

“What? Why? It’s obviously not done, or they would have called me.”

“To see if they even have it!”

Buck was taken aback. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“SHE’S LYING TO YOU! She never moved away! She never brought that test in! Because she’s _lying_!” It was _so_ not like her to shout at him, but it was like a dam had broken inside her and once the frustration had started to leak out, she couldn’t stop it anymore.

Poor Buck looked completely shell-shocked. He clearly had no idea that she felt this strongly about it. Now, watching the doubt creep into his features, when only moments ago he had been all smiles, she couldn’t help but feel guilty. This was exactly what she hadn’t wanted.

“I’m so sorry Buck,” she said softly, angrily swiping at the traitorous tears now breaking free. She really hoped she wasn’t going to be a mess like this for the whole nine months. “I’m in a bad mood, I’ve been sick, and I’m taking it out on you. I really shouldn’t have said anything, and I definitely didn’t mean to just dump all that on you out of nowhere. I’m going to go lie down in the other room, I’ll probably be in a better mindset if I get some rest.”

She didn’t wait for his reaction; she was seconds away from falling apart completely and was hell bent on making it to the solitude of the bedroom. She felt awful about _everything_. She felt awful about ruining Buck’s day, she felt awful about judging Brittany when she herself had yet to tell Buck she was pregnant, she felt awful about not being able to control herself better, and she felt awful because she still believed she was right about Jade and that Buck would be hurt. And now she was starting to feel awful about her chances of salvaging this. She had dug herself one hell of a hole and wasn’t sure how to get out. And if she was _wrong_ about Brittany, God help her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the conclusion! It’s on the short side, but the previous one was suuuuuper long when I had it all together, so I chose to split it up. Thanks for sticking it out through the angsty ride… now here’s your happy ending!

* * *

 

About half an hour had passed when she heard the door open. She was almost afraid to roll over and look up at him. Why did she have to go and say all of that? She promised she would support him, and what she had just done was the exact opposite.

Much to her surprise, he laid down behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly before dropping a kiss on her shoulder.

_Wait, what?_ She turned to face him and saw he looked drained. Was that because of her? And what the hell was this apology about?

“Sorry for what?”

“Not listening to you sooner.”

She was still confused. “What do you mean?”

“You tried to tell me not to get too attached, and I didn’t listen.” He paused and sighed heavily. “I called the lab like you said… you were right, they never got the kit back. Obviously then I called Brittany and asked her about it, and she said she just forgot. I kept on her about it and then she said she lost it, so I said we could meet at the lab on Monday and do it right there. Then she started making excuses why Monday didn’t work, and then Tuesday didn’t work, and then maybe Wednesday but she wasn’t sure. So I pushed her a little harder, and she said she didn’t want to do it anymore, and when I asked why, she said because she already knew who the father was. I asked if it was really me, and she said no. It’s her ex-boyfriend’s, he left when he found out she was pregnant. I guess she met up with my roomie’s ex, Lindsay, the other day to catch up and that’s when she remembered me from the party. I guess she had a crush on me or something. When she asked about me, Lindsay said I was a nice guy and had a good job, so she thought I would make a good father figure for Jade. We never actually slept together.”

_Holy shit_. So she really had been right all along. It didn’t make her feel any better though; he sounded crushed, and it broke her heart.

“I’m sorry.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Don’t be; you tried to warn me. I should have paid more attention. You have great instincts, Abby. I should have trusted that.”

“I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know,” he kissed her tenderly, “and I appreciate it."

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m a little bummed right now. I was starting to like the idea of being a dad, but I’ll get over it. I still have you, and that’s all I need.”

“What if I said you still could be?”

“Could be what?”

She took a deep breath, her heart beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. “A dad.”

“Wait… are you saying… are you… you’re pregnant?”

She nodded, and his face immediately lit up with the biggest smile.

“Really? Like, for sure?”

“For sure.”

“Abby that’s amazing!” 

She couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm.

“Wait – is that why you were sick today? How long have you known?”

“Yeah, I haven’t felt too bad up until today. I found out on Tuesday…”

“… the day I told you about Brittany”, he finished.

“Perfect timing, right? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away, I wanted to, I just thought it would be better if I let you deal with that first before I threw another baby into the mix.”

“I get it. And to be honest, you probably made the right call. That being said,” he pressed his lips to hers, “if you wanted to make it up to me,” he kissed her again, harder, “I wouldn’t mind.”

She smiled against his lips. “I suppose that could be arranged…” he went in for another kiss but she pulled away, “… after dinner, I’ve barely eaten all day and I’m starving.”

He groaned. “Well I guess I can’t really say no to the mother of my child, can I?”

“I don’t think so, no. And baby and I say food first.”

He kissed her one more time, soft and sweet. “Family dinner, coming right up.”


End file.
